Joe nodded. “If it’s not, something else ridiculously significant is being hidden there.” She looked down again, only able to see part of the mark, a dark blot on her chest. “Is it bad?”
Ren smiled. “Not as bad as things got last night.”
Joe reached out and touched her cheek, holding her gaze for a long minute. “Thank you.” She looked like she was going to say more, but spied something over Ren’s shoulder. She cocked her head and her eyebrows lowered as she considered. She rolled back looking around the room, her head snapping back to Ren.
“Mariel’s room?”
“It was either this or chancing breaking our necks on the stairs.”
She paused to weigh the options, her reaction scaling down from ‘Oh god, my parents are home!’ to ‘You probably made the right call.’
“We still shouldn’t hang out here too long.” She shoved at the covers then pulled them back in place, remembering just how bare she was. “Cover your eyes.”
Ren laughed. “What?”
“Cover your eyes.”
“Joe, really. I saw pretty much everything last night.”
“I was unconscious!”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Pretend you’re in a bikini.”
“How about you close your eyes and pretend they’re open.”
Ren got in one last eye roll before she shut her eyes and put a hand over them. “Alright, the coast is clear.” She had barely begun her sentence before the bed began to shake. Joe scrambled and the door flew open. She sprinted through the house with an armload of damp clothes, chased all the way up the stairs and to her room by Ren’s hysterical laughter.
**
After a proper morning routine, and enough time doing who-knows-what behind closed doors, Joe appeared finally ready to see Ren face to face without a deep crimson blush. Though Ren did make a note that if she stared too long, Joe had to look away and her face would flush all over again. She tried to keep it to a minimum, but it was almost too much fun to avoid doing.
Through the morning, they debated back and forth what Joe had been confronted with in Swinton Woods. The only thing they were sure of was that they had no idea what it was, or where to start looking for answers. The hope was that it was something they could understand and, well, that was about as far as the plan went. Even if they figured out what it was, could it be reasoned with? Could it be beaten? Should it be beaten? If it was defending the time capsule, they could be certain the knife was in safe hands.
This line of questions spiraled out of control, and they realized they were probably worse off than when this had all started. But would they even have the courage to ask Mariel about all of this if she were here? They’d have to answer all the other questions eventually if they did: the break-in, the journal, the snooping in general, Joe’s close call… invading Mariel’s personal space. It probably wasn’t worth it at this point, monsters in the forest or not.
Joe wandered the shelves, looking across all the book titles, hoping that lightning might strike twice. No secret journals this time, Joe just wanted answers. All the books here had historical value. Texts relevant to the history of the house and William’s time, collector’s editions that had been acquired over the years and too precious to sell, the occasional random book that occupied space simply because Mariel enjoyed it. Nothing about creatures or mysteries or the unknown. Definitely nothing about the thing in the park.
Ren paced, stirring a cup of tea absentmindedly. “What’s a Swinton, anyway?”
“I don’t think Swinton is a what so much as a who.”
“That’s not any more reassuring.”
“Than what?” Joe stopped her own search to look at Ren, not following the line of thinking at all.
“What or who, the idea of a forest of Swinton, or a forest full of Swintons, sounds forboding.”
Joe shuddered a little. “You haven’t even seen that thing yet.”
Ren stood quietly, considering her response. “So, let’s go see it.”
Joe dropped the book she’d been holding. “What?”
Ren moved to her, taking her by the hand. “We know better this time. I’ll keep you safe.”
Joe retracted; she did not share Ren’s confidence. “But who will keep you safe?”
A smile flashed across her mouth. “You will.”
“Ren, I don’t think this is a good idea. Don’t you remember how worried you were last night?”
“We’re better prepared this time.”
Joe’s eyebrows shot up, compacting her forehead into her hairline. Of all the questions she wanted to ask, none of them seemed to capture the situation as much as the look she was already wearing.
“It’s going to be fine, Joe.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No, not until I’ve had a chance to prove it.”
Joe wrung her fingers together while her brain worried behind her eyes. She didn’t know how close to death she had actually been, nor did she know if it was the real thing, or just another close call, and she’d wake up and have to start all over again. She didn’t want to start over for so many reasons, but especially because it would put Ren in charge of her rehabilitation. That sounded incredibly dangerous.
“What about Tau? Aren’t we expecting him?”
Ren pursed her lips, and then shrugged. “I guess he misses out then.”
“But we could be followed!”
“Then we’ll be extra careful, Joe. What is wrong?”
Her eyes glittered as her fear rose to the surface. “What do you think is wrong, Ren? Think about it. Think about how worried you were just last night – and this morning – and now you are gung ho to send us right back in there together. What if we don’t come back from this? What if this is our last chance? Is this how you want to go out?”
Ren took Joe’s fingers, lacing them into her own. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what is waiting for us. What I do know is that there is something bad happening all around us and it’s not going to sort itself out.” She looked into Joe’s eyes, seeing the tears that rimmed them and looked away, afraid she’d follow suit and give up if she lingered. “We will be very careful. And we will not do whatever you did to upset it.”
Joe cracked a smile, nodding gently. “Fine, but if it looks like we’re doomed, I’m going to murder you first.”
Ren shrugged, still holding Joe’s hands.
“Good, because I don’t want to be the odd one out.”
**
Ren and Joe worked their way casually up the path through the woods, Joe leading the way, but only by process of guiding Ren by clutched elbow. Ren occasionally smirked imaging the two of them not much more capable than Shaggy and Scooby, though she wasn’t at this moment sure who was who.
They had made their way across the better part of Marysville on foot today, making sure they were not followed. Ducking through shops, taking random buses, and at one point, leaping over, or in Ren’s case: into, a small but surprisingly deep brook as they entered the forest.
The element of surprise was lost as Ren sloshed half a step behind Joe, who was trying hard to remain calm as she dug her fingers harder into Ren’s arm the further along they travelled.
“I need that arm to stay in one piece, Joe,” The tension released for a moment, but returned the moment the leaves flicked in the trees. “Are we there yet?”
This time, Joe meant to squeeze. “I don’t know how you can be making jokes at a time like this.”
“It’s a coping mechanism. If I don’t keep levity, I’ll realize how terrifying the situation is.”
“Well, if you’re going to freak out, you better do it now.” She pointed to the slight bend in the path where it opened up. Ren could see the fountain bubbling. It almost looked like a fairy tale, the way the fountain was hidden among the trees. “We’re here.”
Ren took a couple of steps forward into the square. She took a calming breath, reminding herself to be on guard,
but appear as non-threatening as possible. Joe held tight for the first couple of paces, but fell behind, the weight of her fear bearing down on her.
Ren wandered, staying close to the fountain at the center. She turned back to Joe, who looked pale and subconsciously rubbed her chest in a slow circle, as if she could feel it returning. When Joe made eye contact, she pointed beyond the fountain. Ren’s eyes moved to the end of Joe’s invisible arrow and saw it: the time capsule. She swung her foot forward, but she hesitated. Her foot slowly returned to its place beneath her and she waited for a moment. Reaching out, she held a hand splayed, reaching, pawing at the air as she reached back for Joe. Joe again hesitated, and then joined her sister at the center of the crossroads. Together, they sat on the edge of the fountain, hands clasped in a white-knuckle double fist.
Ren licked her lips, swallowed and tried to choose her words carefully to call the creature.
“H-hello?” She waited, happy that they were both off their feet. It was easier to keep her legs from shaking if they weren’t supporting her. “Look, we just want to talk.”
“Why have you come back?” No one appeared to claim the disembodied voice, but from the first whisper, every muscle in Joe’s body tensed, quivering violently. Ren was interested, but focused her worry on protecting Joe and getting some answers.
“I don’t know who you think we are, but we’re not them.” She caressed Joe’s fingers, which had gone white with the force of squeezing against Ren’s fingers. Ren wanted to step out, to try to find the voice, but even sitting up straighter caused a panic in Joe that held her to the edge of the fountain.
“You are here to take.”
The voice flowed through the courtyard, whirling around them as if it were able to go wherever it pleased. Something completely ethereal, but it could apparate and cause extreme physical harm. It made Ren realize that they were no longer part of the world she thought they were a part of. She continued to try to be a part of that ordinary world – the one she left behind – but things kept pointing back to the fact that she would never truly belong there again. Nothing made that more apparent than the fact that she was sitting on a fountain having a conversation with a voice that didn’t have a body.
Ren patted Joe’s hands, placing them on Joe’s lap before boosting herself off the edge of the fountain. There was a sound of protest from Joe, but Ren simply smiled and carried forward with her plan. A plan that, like the voice around her, lacked a body or any sort of substance in general.
“My name is Ren. This is Joe. We’re from Delaney House and we need to know if you are keeping something of ours from us. We need it back.”
For a long moment, even the wind had stopped. Ren thought that maybe she had overstepped her bounds. Maybe the creature had no idea who the Delaneys were and this had confused it. She listened and waited for a response. Nothing came. She turned back to Joe, who was visibly shaken and staring beyond Ren’s shoulder.
At that moment, she realized that she was Shaggy.
She turned and all at once, her body dragged her back to the lip of the fountain. The creature had appeared far too close for comfort, with barely enough space to slip a breeze between them. Ren immediately felt the cold chill emanating from it. It was a creeping cold, like dry ice. The kind of cold that doesn’t just exist; it slithers and crawls.
Ren put a hand out, holding Joe, knowing it was taking everything in the poor girl’s soul to keep from running scared. But this was what they came here to find.
It stared at them, into them. It looked almost human, as if it had once been. But it didn’t move like a human at all. It moved its head at odd angles, twisting its neck and body instead of just flicking its eyes in a new direction. Its arms floated gently at its sides, as if it were moving through water. Its whole body had a sense of floating, beyond the fact that it was actually floating there in front of them. Its hair and tendrils and tattered remnants of cloth all seemed to float aimlessly as if gravity had no effect on it.
“You know nothing of what you ask. It is not yours.”
When it spoke, nothing moved. Its lips never parted, its chest didn’t rise or fall. Its eyes didn’t even appear to glimmer, showing that it was transmitting a psychic message just for them. It was as if someone was operating it from behind a curtain. That thought circled, and then came to roost again in Ren’s brain. It seemed like a very good way to keep everything safe and secure.
She peered around the park, looking for any indication that it was just a projection, or a hologram, or something. Her eyes moved past Joe’s who gave her a curious look, as if she couldn’t believe Ren had found something more interesting than this creature. Ren could only wink and hope Joe understood.
Ren stood up again, stepping forward, feeling the cold drip off it. She ignored the warnings her body tried to provide and reached out, expecting her hand to pass through it.
It did not.
Way to go, Shaggy.
It cocked its head, giving her the curious look of a dog that didn’t understand its master, then repeated Ren’s motion, its fingers lighting on her chest. Immediately, Ren felt the cold shock her body. All of her functions ceased for a long moment. And when she thought the worst was over, it placed its full hand onto her chest, the sensation doubling as it forced its way into her system.
Ren realized that she must be getting the worst of it for her offense, because there was no way she would make it back to Delaney House the way she felt at this moment – let alone grab a pizza on the way. Somewhere behind her, Joe let out a strangled cry and Ren realized that it couldn’t end here.
“Enough.” Her demand was feeble, soft. She had willed it to slip from her lips and even she barely heard it. She said it again, trying to be more forceful, but the air was heavy in her lungs. It moved slowly and without force. The white face in front of her remained impassive and uncaring. Ren did not want to die. Not here, certainly not again. She had been lucky the last time.
Her hands came up, one closing around the fingers on her chest, the other reaching out. She peeled the frozen digits from her bluing flesh and with her other hand, she shoved.
“Enough!”
It came clear and strong this time, and for a moment, she thought the warmth would return to her, but that was momentary. She collapsed to her knees on the stones, holding herself, shuddering in the cold that burned within her. Joe rushed to her side, the words that might have been spoken any other time were only a whimper that forced its way through tears.
Ren reached out, grasping Joe’s hand and wanting to speak. She wanted to say all sorts of things. She wanted to be witty and inspiring and encouraging. She wanted to ease the moment for both of them, but the burning cold within her made her whole body shake and complicated the act of providing inspiration.
“I guess we’ll see what happens,” She held Joe, and didn’t want to leave, but it was getting harder to keep her eyes open. Her body was getting colder and her thoughts seemed to be slowing down. It was coming soon. It wouldn’t be a quick surprise this time. It was going to come on like an old movie: slow, familiar, with a gradual build to the finale.
“You are not like most who come here.”
Ren tried to open her eyes. Something had changed in its tone. It sounded curious, almost apologetic. Her muscles wouldn’t obey her any longer. She was doubled over, ready to collapse. She could feel hands guiding her onto her side, then her back. She assumed it was Joe. When she managed to peek through the tiny slits that were all that remained of her vision, she saw only the thing. She felt it place a hand on her chest again and she rattled out a cough. At any other time in her life, it would have been a scream, long and loud, but it was too close to the end now, and the cough was all the remained of her defiant nature.
She felt her energy wane, and with it, the cold. It was like she could feel her whole body warming up. It took a moment to realize, but that was exactly what was happening. She could feel her extremities again, the blood working its way through her b
ody, feeling hotter and thicker than ever before.
She gasped, her body dragging her upright. Her eyes opened and before she could do anything, her wind was taken away again as Joe tackled her. She continued to cry, but Ren could tell these were happy, delighted tears. It was the steel grip Joe held her with that worried her.
Over Joe’s shoulder, she saw the creature staring down at them, observing this moment with casual curiosity. Ren looked up as she hugged Joe.
“Thank you.”
It made no move to communicate compassion or sympathy. It seemed just as impassive as when it was trying to kill her. But something in the air had certainly changed. The energy itself felt different.
“It would be wasteful to remove you from this place. Your strength can do much good here.”
FOURTEEN
Weary and exhausted didn’t come close to how they both felt as they leaned against each other, hardly noticing the jostles as they rode around on Marysville’s public transit. For one low price, the bus system would take them anywhere, and let them ride as long as the shuttle was running, for no additional fee. Ren and Joe bobbed along as the bus shimmied around corners, stopping every so many blocks to pick up or drop off. No one paid them much mind as they slipped in and out the fog they shared, trying to force their brains to understand everything that had been passed along to them in such a short time.
After it had revived Ren, the creature revealed itself as a she, not an it. She, like Mariel, was a den mother. The two not only shared the common bond of surrogate motherhood, but also that of an unnaturally long history. So long in this case, that she did not actually remember where she came from when she and Mariel first crossed paths. Mariel was fortunate enough to find the den mother in a complacent mood and struck a bargain.
Mariel called her new friend Mother Wight, and neither Ren nor Joe wanted to point out the folklore that Mariel had borrowed that name from. Really, she could have borrowed from any number of fairytales and it didn’t matter as long as Mother Wight herself never found out what it meant. That didn’t seem to be a concern. Mother and her brood had no desire to be part of any society but their own. The city had been encroaching on their hunting ground for some time, and when their territory became threatened, they began attacking. That’s when the stories began: tales of boogeymen and evil spirits coming in with the fog, attacking the townsfolk. Mariel went out, primarily defenseless, into a heavy fog, when they were known to attack. That was when she met Mother and her brood, stuffing themselves on what remained of a horse they had brought down.
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